WHO calls Pfizer’s oral COVID-19 drug the superior choice

“Superior Choice”

According to WHO experts in the medical journal BMJ, the combination of Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir of the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer is the “preeminent choice” in the treatment of unvaccinated people, the elderly or immunocompromised. with COVID-19.

For these patients, WHO also “conditionally recommends” the antiviral drug Remdesivir manufactured by the US biotech company Gilead. Previously, WHO recommended against using Remdesivir.

WHO has recommended Paxlovid instead of remdesivir as well as Merck’s Molnupiravir tablets and monoclonal antibodies.

Pfizer’s oral treatment prevents hospitalizations more than “available alternatives, has less concern about harm than molnupiravir, and is easier to use,” WHO experts said. with antibodies and intravenous remdesivir”.

The new WHO recommendation, based on the results of two trials with nearly 3,100 patients, showed that Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization by 85%.

The trials also “suggested no significant difference in mortality” and “little or no risk of adverse events leading to discontinuation”.

WHO recommendations apply to people over 18 years of age, but not to pregnant or lactating women. The recommendation also does not apply to patients with low risk of complications from COVID-19 because the benefit would be minimal.

WHO experts also declined to comment on patients with severe forms of the disease due to lack of data.

Limitations

WHO highlights the limitations of such antiviral treatments. “Drugs can only be used when the disease is at an early stage,” noted the United Nations health organization.

This means that the patient must get a positive result quickly and be prescribed medication by a doctor. All of this can be daunting for low- and middle-income countries, the WHO points out.

However, medicine to treat COVID-19 is considered a big step towards potentially ending the pandemic because it can be used for treatment at home, instead of in a hospital.

Patients must start taking Paxlovid within 5 days of the onset of symptoms – the course of which lasts 5 days.

Remdesivir can be taken within 7 days after symptoms start. Remdesivir is administered intravenously for 3 days.

According to AFP, WHO also called on Pfizer to be more transparent in pricing and dealing with Paxlovid.

Lisa Hedman, WHO senior adviser on access to medicines, pointed out, NPR news station, a full course of Paxlovid costs $530. Another unconfirmed WHO source put the price of the drug at $250 in an upper-middle-income country.

Meanwhile, Remdesivir costs $520, Hedman said, but generic versions made by companies in India sell for between $53 and $64.

There is also the question of whether the virus may be resistant to these treatments. But in early April, Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla predicted a bright future for treatments like Paxlovid as people grew weary of the booster shots. Pfizer has agreed to allow some of the world’s generic drugmakers to produce cheaper versions of Paxlovid under a United Nations-backed program.

However, on April 22, WHO “recommends” Pfizer let more generic drug manufacturers make the drug and “deliver it faster and at an affordable price”.